Editorial
Peace in the Pacific
by Pamela Stirling
Christmas is the time of hope.
Christmas is the time of hope. The peace that settles on the world, however momentary, somehow always gives us hope that the next year will bring less oppression, corruption, injustice and bad television.
And indeed, a new report on the improving state of the world points out that, for billions of people, these are the best of times to be alive. Never before in human history have so many people been freed from extreme poverty so quickly. Despite the shameful deprivation, disease and misery that still affect hundreds of millions, fewer people than ever are going hungry. The number of people subsisting on $US2 a day has dropped from 39% of the world’s population in the 1970s to 18%. And, compared with 20 years ago, people are generally more likely to live under the rule of law, less likely to lose their lives through the whim of a dictator and more at liberty to choose their leaders.
That’s what makes the troubles in our own region appear all the worse. The regional arc of instability is widening: Tonga has its troubles. And from East Timor to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and now again in Fiji, armed groups have repeatedly shown contempt for democratic institutions and created economic volatility and hardship.
Anyone who doubted the impact of a coup on Fiji’s poor had only to visit Suva in the 12 months after the last coup in 2000. The national economy shrank by 10%, in a country where around 40% of the people live below the poverty line. To appreciate the tragedy of it, all you had to do was go to Sukuna Park late on a tropical evening and talk to the young Indian Fijian women selling themselves for sex for as little as $2.50. They carried no condoms and seemed not to care about the consequences. One, a pretty 19-year-old, was out working even with disturbing injuries: “I got runned over,” she explained. There was no miniskirt, no bare navel, no halter top, no cigarette. Not even a sensuous sway. Just the determination to earn enough to pay for her daughter’s food next day.
The coup caused a 75% downturn in the part of the garment trade where these young women had previously worked. But it hit everyone, from villagers right down to the shoeshine boys in Suva. They greeted me with an inimitable new one-liner: “Auntie! Will you marry me?” Yet beneath the cheeky tone was an unmistakable desperation.
Up at the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, medical staff talked of a “terrifying” increase in family violence unleashed by the coup. Husbands beat up their wives with impunity. Sex was often forced.
The arrogant display of military power by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who took the forces supposed to protect Fijian citizens and instead turned them against his own people, will simply set the stage for further injustices.
Yes, it is true that the corruption Bainimarama claims to have acted against does have a particularly severe impact on the poor. But a coup is the ultimate corruption of power. And the fact is that the plight of the poor is always best helped by the very thing Bainimarama’s coup threatens: good governance. Education, health care, access to markets and finance all flow from that. After the last coup thousands of children lost a year of school.
There is one other important institution that can help: the church. To their shame, leaders of the Methodist and other churches have supported previous coups. Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase claimed in fact that the “events of May 2000 happened because of God’s plan”. What is fortunately not evident is the chilling “forgiveness” handed out last time when the churches of Suva gave general absolution to congregation members involved in the looting and deaths. This time there are calls for unity in support of democracy.
In the true spirit of Christmas, there is one thing New Zealanders can do to promote such hopes. The most hard-hitting sanction would be a ban on Fiji’s playing in next February’s sevens rugby tournament in Wellington. We would have to pay compensation to the organising body; we would miss a terrific sporting spectacle. But it is the only sanction that will avoid hitting the poor hardest. The best presents always involve sacrifice. For the Pacific, the most valuable gift is the one that promotes peace.
